In a process for manufacturing a semiconductor device etc., a liquid processing has been known that supplies the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to as “wafer”) with a processing liquid such as a chemical liquid or deionized water (DIW) to remove particles or contaminants adhered on the substrate.
As an example of a liquid processing apparatus configured to perform this liquid processing, a liquid processing apparatus has been known that places substrates on a spin-chuck one by one, supplies a processing liquid to the surface of the substrate while rotating the substrate, thereby performing the liquid processing. For example, there is a liquid processing apparatus of this type in which the substrates are transferred to a plurality of liquid processing units capable of performing the same kind of liquid processing by using a common substrate transfer device, and the substrates are continuously replaced while performing the liquid processing by the plurality of liquid processing units thereby improving the number of substrates (throughputs) processed per unit time. See, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2008-34490, paragraph [0020] and FIG. 1.
The present inventors have considered a method that significantly increases the throughput of the liquid processing apparatus having such a structure, and increases the number of substrates capable of being processed in parallel by providing a plurality of processing blocks each configured to transfer substrates to the plurality of liquid processing units by using a common substrate transferring device, in one liquid processing apparatus.
However, as the number of substrates capable of being processed in one liquid processing apparatus is increased, losses are increased by stopping the liquid processing apparatus when either one of liquid processing unit, a substrate transfer device, or a processing liquid supply system for liquid processing unit and the like has a trouble. In particular, in a case when a plurality of processing blocks are provided within the liquid processing apparatus as described above, although it would be possible to continue the operation of the processing blocks except a trouble point, an opportunity loss will occur upon stopping the entire apparatus, thereby disturbing the effective operation of the liquid processing apparatus.
Here, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2004-87675 (paragraph [0040], [0108], FIGS. 1 to 3) discloses a coating and developing apparatus that performs a series of process, such as a coating process of an applying liquid to a semiconductor wafer, a heating process, and a developing process after the exposure. In particular, the coating and developing apparatus is provided with a plurality of processing lines configured to perform a series of processes, and it is possible to continue operating the residual processing lines even when a device included in one processing line is out of order.
In the coating and developing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2004-87675, when any device belonging to each processing line is broken, the processing line containing the broken device needs to be stopped entirely, regardless of the broken point. In contrast, as described above, in a case where there are provided a plurality of liquid processing blocks each configured to transfer substrates to a plurality of liquid processing units by means of one substrate transfer device, even when a trouble occurs in the device needed to operate a certain liquid processing block, it is sometimes possible to continue the liquid processing by other liquid processing units included in the liquid processing block. As a result, it is often the case that the liquid processing apparatus cannot be operated efficiently despite of applying the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2004-87675.